


Monkey Business

by MagicaDraconia16



Series: 2020 Bingos [17]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Monkeys, Shapeshifting, Tony Stark Bingo 2020, TropesAndFandoms20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25023850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicaDraconia16/pseuds/MagicaDraconia16
Summary: It was three thirty in the morning when he stumbled into the kitchen and spotted the jaguar.
Series: 2020 Bingos [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1634290
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020, Tropes & Fandoms 2020





	Monkey Business

**Author's Note:**

> Written for **Tony Stark Bingo:** _K2 - Shapeshifters_ and for **TropesAndFandoms20:** _regular square - Creature_. This is my last fill for the TropesAndFandoms game. I've had a blast taking part, and thank you to the admins for organising it. 
> 
> Card Number: 3035  
> Square Filled (Letter/number AND prompt): K2 - Shapeshifters  
> Ship/Main Pairing: None  
> Rating: Gen  
> Major Tags: Fluff and humor, shapeshifting, canon divergence post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier  
> Summary: It was three thirty in the morning when he stumbled into the kitchen and spotted the jaguar.  
> Word Count: 1019

It was three thirty in the morning when he stumbled into the kitchen and spotted the jaguar.

To be fair to himself, it _was_ his eighty sixth hour without sleep. JARVIS had had DUM-E swap out his coffee for decaf at hour sixty, and it had taken until hour seventy four for him to notice, which, really, said it all about his state of mind.

So Tony didn’t think he could really be blamed for the fact that, upon being abruptly confronted with a large predator in his kitchen, he had let out a high-pitched gibbering alarm call and flung himself backwards, shifting as he did so to land near the top of the door frame. He clung there, fur all bristled up to make himself seem larger, and chittered angrily at the intruder.

The intruder, who lay calmly on the floor and stared up at him in a puzzled manner.

In a rush of footsteps, the doorway was suddenly filled with people, all in various stages of dress and clutching various weapons.

“Tony?” the large blond at the front of the troop asked. “What’s going on?” He lowered the shield he was holding, and Tony squawked at him in agitation. _What are you doing, you idiot? Can’t you see there’s danger?_

Before he got a chance to turn back and _say_ that, however, one of the other members of the troop spotted the jaguar and reeled back with an urgent squeal of his own, shrinking rapidly down into fur before shooting upwards again into _different_ fur.

The four people still on two legs hastily clamped their hands over their ears, as the howler monkey bounded over the top of them to land in front of the jaguar and _roared_ right in its face.

The jaguar jerked backwards, its ears pressing back flat against its head as the noise echoed in the big kitchen. It gave an unhappy yowl and glanced at the blond man who’d been leading the troop.

“Alright, everyone just calm down,” he said, firmly, tentatively removing his hands from his ears and straightening up. “Everyone, just step back and… _calm down_. There’s no danger here. It’s just Bucky.” Everyone – even the howler monkey – turned to look at him. “What?” he asked, defensively.

“Your pal, the Winter Soldier, is a jaguar? And you brought him _here_ , into the troop’s _home_ , without _telling_ anyone this?” Clint asked, incredulously. “Steve!”

“I didn’t think it’d be a problem,” Steve informed him. “He’s actually really sweet as a jaguar. The neighbourhood kids used to play on him all the time.”

Tony leapt from his perch on the doorframe, bouncing off of Clint’s shoulder to land on the island counter. Claws scrabbling for purchase on the marble, he spun to chitter angrily at Steve.

“Tony is right,” Natasha said. It was amazing how well she understood him for not being a shifter herself. Or perhaps she was just used to thinking along the same lines as human-Tony. “It is not his behaviour that is the problem; it’s the fact that you brought a large predator into our home territory – _prey_ territory – without giving anyone any warning whatsoever.”

Steve’s shoulders slumped as he sighed. “Okay, you’re right,” he agreed. “I’m sorry, guys. I was just so happy to get him back—”

“’S cool, man,” Sam assured him, patting him on the shoulder. “Just don’t do it again, alright?”

Everyone finally relaxed. The jaguar looked surprised as the howler monkey in front of it sighed and shrank down into a monkey that was almost the same size as Tony. It tentatively nudged in Bruce’s direction with its nose but then froze as Tony dropped onto its head from the counter. Apparently over his surprise, Tony began investigating the top of the jaguar’s head, ruffling his fingers through its fur and pinching the tip of one ear. Aside from twitching the appendage out of his reach, the big cat remained motionless.

Clint abruptly yawned, setting Sam off as well. Even Natasha wasn’t immune, although she merely clenched her jaw and blinked several times.

“If the alarm’s over, I’m back to bed,” Clint said, his words interrupted by another yawn as he turned to leave.

“Me, too,” agreed Sam, clapping Steve on the shoulder. Bruce chittered in agreement and scampered out of the kitchen. Transforming into the Hulk – even in primate form – always took a lot out of him.

Natasha looked down at where Tony had curled himself up into a ball on the jaguar’s head. It was obvious that Bucky didn’t dare move, because if he so much as twitched a whisker, Tony was going to go tumbling off him. She smirked and pulled her phone from _somewhere_ on her person – Steve had no idea where it had been hidden, and he didn’t _want_ to know. He preferred his head being right where it was on his shoulders, thank you – to take several pictures of them.

“I suppose I’d better take him up to his room,” Steve said.

“If I may, Captain Rogers,” said JARVIS, softly so as not to disturb the apparently asleep genius. “Sir has been awake for far too long, but is, unfortunately, an extremely light sleeper. If you try and move him now, I’m afraid he may very well awaken, and once he does so, he will insist on returning to the workshop.”

“In other words, you want us to leave him here,” said Natasha.

“I believe that would be for the best, yes,” JARVIS agreed.

Bucky’s eyes widened with alarm as Steve and Natasha both gazed down at him and he gave a soft grunt of protest.

Steve gave him a slow, evil grin. “Sorry, Bucky,” he said. “You heard JARVIS. We don’t want Tony to wake up just yet. I guess you’re stuck there until he wakes up naturally.”

“Sweet dreams,” Natasha mocked as she gracefully turned to exit the kitchen.

“Yeah, night, Buck!” Steve gave the jaguar a cheery wave over his shoulder as he followed the Black Widow.

The jaguar closed its eyes and grumbled to itself. It would get its revenge on that punk somehow. 

**Author's Note:**

> Shapeshifter forms:  
>  **Bucky:** jaguar  
>  **Tony:** [golden lion tamarin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_lion_tamarin)  
>  **Bruce:** [emperor tamarin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_tamarin)  
>  **Hulk:** [howler monkey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howler_monkey)  
> (and not mentioned)  
>  **Steve:** [lar gibbon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lar_gibbon) (the blondest, naturally)  
> and **Clint:** [rainbow lorikeet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_lorikeet)
> 
> Sam and Natasha aren't shifters at all. 
> 
> And Peter Parker isn't even in this story, but I see him as a [baby golden snub-nosed monkey](https://i.redd.it/0ii43q5vgj121.jpg), because damn it, that is just too cute not to be.


End file.
